Roseville Pottery began manufacturing stoneware in 1892
in a factory that was previously known as the Owens
Pottery Company in Roseville, Ohio. Although, a second
location in Roseville was purchased, two other factories
purchased in Zanesville, Ohio were to be the center of
pottery manufacturing. The two locations in Zanesville
had their own specialties. One of them produced utilitarian
stoneware and in 1900 the other began producing art
ware. In the beginning, distribution was done by peddlars
who would go door-to-door selling Roseville's wares.
Some of the early pieces prices were $1.25 for a stork
umbrella stand, $4 - $6 for pedestals and jardinieres, to
$15 - $25 for a 45" tall" jardiniere and pedestal with a
female head.
Initially, there were two lines produced. One line was
hand-decorated by a number of top designers. But, later
had been discontinued due to lack of interest. From then
on, decorations were produced either in the mold or
decals. One of the first lines was brown glazed called
"Rozanne" and a "Light Rozanne".
After the turn of the century until 1920 many pottery
companies had a matte green line. Roseville was no
exception. Roseville's first green line was made in 1904
and was called "Rozanne Egypto". It was created by a
native of Denmark, Christian Neilson, a graduate of the
Royal Academy of Art at Copenhagen. There were two
other green lines by Roseville; the "Chloron" line and the
"Matt Green".
The "Rozane Mongol" line was a high gloss oxblood red
line. It won lst prize at the St. Louis Expedition in 1904;
gaining recognition for Roseville and its creator, John J.
Herold. John Herold was a native of Austria who was
superintendent for the art department from 1900-1908. A
new line was introduced in 1904 which was the answer to
a very famous line by S. Weller Pottery; the "Sicardo" line.
That line was called "Rozanne Mara". It had three
variations of a lustre glaze; an intricate pattern with a red
lustre background, a subtle design blending into the
background, and third a brilliant magenta with highlighted
areas of a metallic lustre.
"Della Robbia" was one of the most famous of the art
ware. It included vases, urns, tankards, and bowls in
sgraffito, decorations colorfully enameled.
In 1903 an overglaze department was developed. Some
of the decoration methods used were decals and a
method called "pouncing". It involved waxed patterns
being perforated to allow powdered talc to sift through.
The decorator followed the lines that adhered to the
ware, adding tinted glazes. The third method was air
brushing or sponges. The workers would follow the
embossed lines.
MARKS
When the artline was added to the commercial wares,
after 1900, a identification system using a number code
was introduced. A series of numbers indicated the
particular type of ware and each number in sequence
within that series indicated the shape. This was
discontinued in 1910 and reestablished in the early
thirties. In addition to the number system was the cast
mark along with the shape number and size to the
nearest inch.
Of the unmarked pieces found today, some were never
marked, others were marked with a paper label.
Do not confuse the early RPCo mark with the R P C O mark
used early at the Rookwood Pottery. RRPCO is not
Roseville Pottery, it is another pottery company from
Roseville, Ohio; Robinson-Ransbottom Pottery.
For more information on the history of Roseville Pottery
examples of marks, and colors, click Here.
For some examples of Roseville Pottery, click Here and
Here.
REFERENCES:
Official Price Guide to Pottery and Porcelain - 8th Ed. -
Harvey Duke
The Collectors Encyclopedia of Roseville Pottery - Sharon
and Bob Huxford - First Series
The Collectors Encyclopedia of Roseville Pottery - Sharon
and Bob Huxford - Second Series
